In the south Arizona drug trade, armed home invasions usually differ from other robberies because police don't have a traditional victim or witnesses. They can be dynamic, armed confrontations in the middle of the night between drug crews looking to heist drugs and money. View crime scene photos from one case, in which the Tucson PD's home invasion special investigative unit arrived to find a blood-stained driveway, spray of rifle rounds embedded in doors and walls, as well as a pair of ostrich boots. Photos courtesy of Tucson PD.
Tucson Home Invasions: The Missing Man
One gunshot victim showed up at a nearby hospital in Tucson for treatment with both legs nearly severed from high-caliber rifle fire.
In this Tucson PD case, a 911 caller reported hearing a shot, seeing a man laying in the front yard of a house, and seeing an unknown white vehicle picking up the man and fleeing the scene. When officers arrived, only the impression of the man's fall in the loose gravel remained.
Footprints leading away from the house pointed officers toward this Ruger revolver that was found on the other side of a neighbor's wall, ditched by one of the gunmen.
Tucson police detectives discovered a pair of pink ostrich boots along with seized cash.
One susbject fired multiple rounds from his AK-47 rifle at the home invaders as he lay prone on his stomach in a bedroom.
A fierce gun battle erupted inside the house in the hallway between assailants and the resident of this bedroom, as the home invaders exchanged gunfire with the resident who had been laying on a bed.
Home invasions often don't involve traditional victims, since they are mostly armed robberies by drug crews who "rip" or "lick" narcotics and cash from each other.